Murder, attacks have people living in fear

MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio – A brutal murder and a string of other attacks have some people in Maple Heights living in fear, Action News' Tom Johnson reported.

Frances Kornowski was beaten to death inside her upstairs apartment. Those who live in the Villa D'Oro apartment complex said that her apparent murder was not the first crime committed in and around the building.

Residents like Carol Palardy said that she and many of her neighbors are simply scared. Palardy, who is blind, was robbed while sitting in the building's lobby.

"Somebody comes along, snatches my purse and runs through that doorway down into the hallway," she said.

"Someone's been preying on the elderly," another Villa D'Oro resident said.

The resident said that most of her neighbors at Villa D'Oro are senior citizens. She said that she knows of at least four muggings in the last month alone.

"It's not good for anybody, young or old, to be preyed upon like this," she said.